


shine a light so i can see you from far away

by ActivelyWeird



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista Iwaizumi Hajime, Coffee Shops, Concerned Iwaizumi Hajime, Fluff, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, IT'S PLATONIC, M/M, Protective Iwaizumi Hajime, but like could be more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25396090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActivelyWeird/pseuds/ActivelyWeird
Summary: Iwaizumi dreaded his evening shift. Nothing ever happened during it, and this rainy evening seemed no different. Until.. something, or rather someone, showed up. Too bad it was after closing. Right?
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	shine a light so i can see you from far away

**Author's Note:**

> FOR AMY BECAUSE YOU ARE THE MOST AMAZING PERSON EVER AND MY BEST FRIEND AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS!!!!!!
> 
> more sap in the end notes
> 
> Inspired by [Grand Bleu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmLNlmleGV8) by 100%, [Heaven](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK6-n9SyFlI) by EXO, and [Beautiful Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14qWxDuINE0) by Monsta X

  
_The sky gave you everything  
And this world gave me you  
I want to keep you by my side  
So you can't fly back into the sky  
Hold you down, keep you with me  
Hug you  
_  


Iwaizumi sighed, wishing once more that his shift could just be over already.

Who even went to a coffee shop in the evening? He had thought that was amazing when he had offered to pick up the evening shift for a week, but that was before he realized how excruciatingly boring it was. 

Nothing ever seemed to happen. Every night this week had been the same mundane routine, and just like every night this week, Iwaizumi had already began cleaning up the shop even though they technically weren't closed for another 15 minutes. He wiped down all the tables, _twice_ just to have something to do, and then refilled all the coffee bean containers for the opening staff tomorrow. Thankfully, after he finished wiping down the front counters, closing time was just minutes away.

He began stacking up the chairs, flipping them upside down and carefully putting them down on the tables. His boss Daichi was a nice guy most of the time, but he would be pissed if Iwaizumi scuffed one of the tables. Iwaizumi let his mind wander away, thinking about the paper he had due in a couple of days, about differential equations or something similar. Iwaizumi wasn't sure; why he was forced to take an Advanced Calculus course if he wanted to be in Sports Medicine was beyond him, but at least it wasn't as bad as his World History class. God, the teacher seemed to only like group projects, the last one being a group poster project that ended disastrously for everyone in the class, and he was just thankful that only half the class were idiots.

His mind elsewhere, Iwaizumi almost didn't notice the figure standing outside. In his defense, the rain made it even more difficult to see in the dark, but the figure was huddled underneath the coffee shop's awning, hunched over something. Iwaizumi took a few steps to the side to try and get a better look, and he noticed the guy looking at a map. An actual, paper map, not even Google Maps or Waze or whatever it is people used nowadays. The paper was clearly also soaked, judging by how curled in the corners were and the guiy was staring at it pitfully.

Iwaizumi's heart twitched strangely. He felt pity for the guy, and he thought he should probably help him. He looked longingly into the back of the store, where his warm jacket and car keys were resting, but then saw the stranger shiver and realized that the guy wasn't even wearing a coat. It was almost in the negatives tonight, there was freezing rain, and there was a dumbass outside who wasn't wearing a jacket. 

Iwaizumi sighed heavily; he figured his warm coat would have to wait just a bit longer.

He carefully took down the chair he had just put up, and then went to open the locked door of the coffee shop. The bell above the door jingled cheerfully as he did so, a direct contrast to the dreary weather, and the stranger looked up at the noise. And , he was kind of hot. His short brown hair was hanging limply around his face, soaked, but somehow that just large brown eyes stand out even more. He was a little taller than Iwaizumi, maybe four or five centimeters, but in his current state he seemed kind of tiny. 

"Um hi," Iwaizumi said, and that was a great start. "It's really cold out here, do you want to come in, or at the least let me give you directions?" Iwaizumi asked, hoping he didn't sound too forward though he probably did. It was a bad habit of his.

The stranger just blinked for a moment, before giving him a tentative smile. "If it's not a big deal, sure. That'd be great, actually," he added on, almost timidly. 

He walked towards Iwaizumi, who walked back into the store and let the stranger follow him. He left the guy alone for a moment as he walked into the backroom, searching for some towels or maybe some other clothes. He found an extra employee shirt lying around, and figured it was better than nothing. 

"Hey, if you want, I've got an extra shirt you can borrow," Iwaizumi said as he walked back into the front area. The stranger was standing awkwardly by the door, hair dripping water into small puddles by his feet, though he didn't seem to notice. He awkwardly took the shirt Iwaizumi was all but shoving into his hands, gripping it so tightly his knuckles were turning white. 

"The bathroom is over there, you can change and uhhhh.... use this for your wet shirt," Iwaizumi handed the stranger the small plastic bag usually used for takeout snacks and such, which he took gratefully as he shuffled over to the bathroom. As the door gently clicked closed, Iwaizumi wondered what his next step would be. 

Obviously, the guy was lost but where was he going? Did he live nearby or was he just visiting? Why didn't he just call someone? Though the lack of Google Maps did suggest that the guy might not have had one or his had died. Maybe Iwaizumi could offer him a ride wherever he needed to go....

He shook his head slightly. He was getting ahead of himself, he couldn't just offer a stranger a ride without having talked to him. Though he could make him a warm drink, just so he wouldn't catch a cold from standing in the freezing rain. 

Coffee probably wasn't the best idea considering the late hour, so Iwaizumi set about making a cup of hot chocolate. He only slightly bemoaned the fact he had to dirty the once sparkling counters, but he tried to keep his mess to a minimum. Just as he was screwing the lid closed on a to-go cup, the door to the bathroom reopened and Iwaizumi heard soft footsteps approach the counter as he turned around. 

"Here you go, to help with the chill," Iwaizumi explained as he handed over the steaming hot cup carefully to the other. The stranger's eyes widened. 

"You didn't have to do that," he said quietly, as he hesitantly took the cup. He didn't take a sip out of it, instead choosing to hold the warm cup between his stil trembling hands. 

"Of course I did," Iwaizumi said, waving off his worries. "You were standing outside for who knows how long, in the freezing rain, without a jacket. The I could do is give you some hot chocolate." 

Again with the tentative smile, the stranger finally took a tiny sip of the warm drink. He savored the heat for a second, before taking another, longer, sip from it.

"So, what's your name?" Iwaizumi asked casually, as he ran a cloth over the counter just for something to do. There wasn't any mess here, it was all on the back counter, but he didn't want to turn around and be rude to the stranger. 

~~The fact that he was easy on the eyes meant nothing.~~

"Oikawa," he said after a pause. "What's yours?" he asked in return, and Iwaizumi almost detected a hint of cheek in his voice. 

"I'm Iwaizumi. What were you doing out in the rain? Without a phone, I might add?" He quirked his eyebrow, waiting to hear what _brilliant_ excuse he was about to hear. 

"Maybe I chose to do that," Oikawa said, though his cheeks were beginning to get flushed. There was a long pause as he continued to sip at his hot chocolate before he continued. "Phone died a while back, picked up a physical map at some store, but then took some weirdass wrong turn when it started to rain. Not sure what happened, but started to rain and now here I am," he ended with a slight flourish, gesturing to the general area around him. Iwaizumi noticed, however, the slight tremble in his leg, but rather than asking questions, just decided to push over a chair so Oikawa could sit. He pulled another one down for himself, and sat across from the man. 

"Well, that sounds fun. Where were you trying to get, if you don't me asking? Do you live near here?" Iwaizumi asked. 

"Depends. Where's 'here'? Oikawa returned. Iwaizumi gave him the address of the shop, which, after two years of being a barista there, rolled off his tougue just as easily as his name. 

"Then yeah, I live near here. I'm a student at the University actually. I usually take a bus, I don't walk that much. But a dead phone means I can't use my mobile bus pass and I left my physical one at home and who carries around change these days?" Oikawa sighed deeply, seemingly incredibly tired. Iwaizumi noticed the slight shadows under his eyes, carefully hidden by makeup that must've been smeared at some point. He silently wondered if that had anything to do with his seemingly injured leg, but once again, didn't bother asking. Instead he said:

"Want a ride? I go the University too, I live at the dorms, I don't mind dropping you off," he offered, hoping that Oikawa would take him up on his offer. The guy looked like he could just use a good rest at this point, his wet hair still dripping pitifully. 

"I guess...I guess that'd be okay. Thank you," he said, looking down at the table. 

Iwaizumi stood up, pushing the chair in. The late night cleaning staff could deal with two chairs on the ground for one night, even if Iwaizumi would be hearing an earful about it later. "Great, then let's go. My car is out back." He paused for a second. "Actually, first let me just..." 

He trailed off and quickly walked to the register. As he rooted in the drawer next to it, he could feel Oikawa's confused stares, but chose to ignore them for the moment. Letting out a small sound of triumph when he found what he was looking for, he quickly walked back to Oikawa and handed him the piece of paper and pen.

"What do you want me to do with these?" Oikawa asked. 

Iwaizumi rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "I was hoping you'd give me your number." Before Oikawa could say anything, he continued rapidly. "You know, if you ever need a ride or anything again. I'd be happy to help." 

Oikawa nodded slowly, and began scribbling on the paper. But before he handed it back to Iwaizumi, he asked simply, "Why?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure why," Iwaizumi admitted. "But, there's just... something in me that's telling me to help you. And maybe we could become friends, who knows?" he ended playfully, resisting the urge to ruffle Oikawa's hair. 

"I... thank you. Again. For everything," Oikawa said, handing back the paper. "And I'd like to be friends too," he said almost bashfully, the cheekiness from before seemingly gone.

"Fantastic!" Iwaizumi said as pocketed the paper. "Then first one to the car gets to choose the music," he said, as he began ~~running~~ speed-walking to the back room. 

"Hey no fair, you're the one with the keys!" Oikawa complained, but Iwaizumi noticed he still followed just as fast. 

And if Iwaizumi let him choose the music anyway, neither of them said anything about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Amy, you have been my best friend for so many years and honestly, that is the biggest honor for me. I sometimes feel like I don't deserve to call myself your friend, that you have so many other people and you're doing so many amazing and insane things. But whenever we're able to laugh together, whenever we can rant together, whenever I realize that I can be myself around you, I realize that whenever I think of friends, my mind automatically goes to you first. I mean, who else can take my ridiculous writing (tall glass of gorgeous anyone) and make fun of it without being awkward? I know I said I'd finish Haikyuu, and I swear one day I will, but until then please take this fic that I hope from the bottom of my heart you liked. I know that everything is not alright always, no matter how much you make it seem like that, and I know that sometimes, it's hard. So I hope that, even if just for a moment, this fic was able to brighten your day.


End file.
